Rocket Internet joins rush of e-commerce listings

BERLIN, Sept 10 (Reuters) - German venture capital group
Rocket Internet, which has launched dozens of online start-ups
in recent years, announced plans on Wednesday to raise about 750
million euros ($970 million) by listing a stake as it rides a
wave of e-commerce floatations.

The announcement comes just a week after Zalando, Europe's
biggest online fashion player that Rocket helped launch, also
announced its intention to float, meaning the two firms will be
competing for investors at the same time.

A flurry of e-commerce floatations is expected to be capped
this month by Chinese titan Alibaba IPO-BABA.N, whose initial
public offering is expected to be the biggest ever technology
listing, surpassing Facebook's $16 billion listing in 2012.

Rocket Internet is bidding to create the largest Internet
empire outside the United States and China. It wants to
replicate the success of Amazon and Alibaba in markets
the U.S. and Chinese e-commerce groups have yet to dominate,
such as Africa, Latin America, Russia and other parts of Asia.

Founded in 2007 by brothers Oliver, Alexander and Marc
Samwer, Rocket is active in more than 100 countries, making
revenue of $1 billion in 2013 via e-commerce and online
marketplaces for everything from taxis to meal deliveries.
(1 US dollar = 0.7735 euro)
(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Christoph Steitz)